Hybrid Air-to-Ground and Satellite System Traffic Management

ABSTRACT

A technique for providing users with in-flight connectivity includes a method for operating a communications system on an aircraft comprising allocating to a communications session between equipment on the aircraft and other equipment, a first bandwidth allocation of a selected communications system selected from the group consisting of a satellite communications system and an air-to-ground communications system. The allocating is based on a latency tolerance of the communications session and a prioritization level of the communications session. The method includes communicating signals of the communications session using the first bandwidth allocation of the selected communications system.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This disclosure relates to communications technology and moreparticularly to providing communications services to users on anaircraft.

2. Description of the Related Art

A typical communications system provides users with in-flight wide areanetwork communications services, and, in some cases, also provides userson an aircraft with in-flight local area network communications services(e.g., a wireless local-area network (WLAN) based on the Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers' 802.11 standards). Althoughterrestrial equipment may provide wide-area network communicationsservices to user equipment while the aircraft is on the ground andaircraft equipment may provide wide-area network communications servicesvia a satellite communications system to a user while in flight,satellite network capacity is limited and expensive and ground access toterrestrial WLAN networks is available for only a small portion of timethat a user spends on the aircraft. Accordingly, improved techniques forproviding communications services to users on an aircraft are desired.

SUMMARY OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

A technique for providing users with in-flight connectivity includes amethod for operating a communications system on an aircraft comprisingallocating to a communications session between equipment on the aircraftand other equipment, a first bandwidth allocation of a selectedcommunications system selected from the group consisting of a satellitecommunications system and an air-to-ground communications system. Theallocating is based on a latency tolerance of the communications sessionand a prioritization level of the communications session. The methodincludes communicating signals of the communications session using thefirst bandwidth allocation of the selected communications system. Theair-to-ground communications system may be selected until theair-to-ground communications system bandwidth is approximately athreshold air-to-ground bandwidth allocation for the aircraft. Themethod may include allocating an aircraft-area bandwidth to thecommunications session based on at least one of capability of theequipment on the aircraft and subscription information associated withthe equipment on the aircraft. The method may include communicating thesignals of the communications session further using the aircraft-areabandwidth. The prioritization level may be selected from a plurality ofprioritization levels based on a type of the equipment on the aircraft.The plurality of prioritization levels may include a prioritizationlevel of aircraft passenger user equipment, a prioritization level ofavionics equipment, a prioritization level of an in-flight entertainmentsystem, and a prioritization level of aircraft personnel communicationsequipment. The selected communications system may be the satellitecommunications system in response to the communications session beingtolerant of a high latency and the selected communications system is theair-to-ground communications system in response to the communicationssession being intolerant of the high latency. The communications sessionmay be a transport layer session of an open systems interconnectionmodel communications system. The method may include allocatingaircraft-area bandwidth to the communications session according to theprioritization level of the equipment on the aircraft. Theprioritization level may be selected from a plurality of prioritizationlevels based on a type of the equipment on the aircraft, the pluralityof prioritization levels including a prioritization level of aircraftpassenger user equipment, a prioritization level of avionics equipment,a prioritization level of an in-flight entertainment system, and aprioritization level of aircraft personnel communications equipment. Themethod may include communicating signals of the communications sessionusing the aircraft-area bandwidth allocation. The selectedcommunications system may be the satellite communications system and themethod may include handing off the communications session from thesatellite communications system to the air-to-ground communicationssystem. The method may include communicating the signals of thecommunications session using a second bandwidth allocation of theair-to-ground communications system. The second bandwidth may beallocated based on the latency tolerance of the communications sessionand the prioritization level of the communications session. The methodmay include handing off the communications session from theair-to-ground communications system to the satellite communicationssystem. The method may include communicating the signals of thecommunications session using a third bandwidth allocation of thesatellite communications system, the third bandwidth being allocatedbased on the latency tolerance of the communications session and theprioritization level of the communications session.

The method may include handing off the communications session from thesatellite communications system to a terrestrial communications system.The method may include communicating the signals of the communicationssession using a fourth bandwidth allocation of the terrestrialcommunications system. The fourth bandwidth is allocated based on theprioritization level of the communications session. The method mayinclude allocating satellite communications system bandwidth to theaircraft according to aircraft altitude. The method may includeallocating air-to-ground communications system bandwidth to the aircraftaccording to aircraft altitude. The first bandwidth may be allocatedbased on the satellite communications system bandwidth allocated to theaircraft and the air-to-ground communications system bandwidth allocatedto the aircraft.

In at least one embodiment of the invention, an apparatus forcommunications on an aircraft includes a first modem, a second modem,and a controller configured to allocate to a communications sessionbetween equipment on the aircraft and other equipment, a first bandwidthallocation of a selected communications system selected from the groupconsisting of a satellite communications system and an air-to-groundcommunications system. The first modem is configured to process signalscommunicated with a non-terrestrial relay point. The second modem isconfigured to process signals communicated with a terrestrial relaypoint. The allocating is based on a latency tolerance of thecommunications session and a prioritization level of the communicationssession, the controller communicating signals of the communicationssession with the first modem and the second modem according to the firstbandwidth allocation. The apparatus may include a wireless local areaaccess node configured to communicate with user equipment on theaircraft. The apparatus may include a small cell access node configuredto communicate with user equipment on the aircraft. The controller maybe further configured to allocate an aircraft-area bandwidth to thecommunications session based on at least one of capability of theequipment on the aircraft and subscription information associated withthe equipment on the aircraft. The controller may be configured tocommunicate the signals of the communications session further using theaircraft-area bandwidth. The prioritization level may be selected from aplurality of prioritization levels based on a type of the equipment onthe aircraft, the plurality of prioritization levels including aprioritization level of aircraft passenger user equipment, aprioritization level of avionics equipment, a prioritization level of anin-flight entertainment system, and a prioritization level of aircraftpersonnel communications equipment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure may be better understood, and its numerousobjects, features, and advantages made apparent to those skilled in theart by referencing the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a functional diagram of an exemplary in-flightcommunications system.

FIG. 2 illustrates a functional block diagram of network elements of thein-flight communications network of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a functional block diagram of network architecture ofan exemplary in-flight communications network.

FIG. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of resources forcommunicating calls and texts using the exemplary in-flightcommunications network of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates a functional block diagram of an exemplary in-flightcommunications network.

FIG. 6 illustrates a functional block diagram of an exemplary in-flightcommunications network configured for traffic classification basedbalancing.

FIG. 7 illustrates a functional block diagram of an exemplary in-flightcommunications network configured to partition traffic based on networklayer information.

FIG. 8 illustrates a functional block diagram of an exemplary in-flightcommunications network configured to split traffic based on networklayer information and bundle on an exemplary transmission controlprotocol (TCP) connection on one link.

FIG. 9 illustrates a functional block diagram of an exemplary aircraftcommunications system from FIG. 5 configured to use multipath TCP onair-to-ground link.

FIG. 10 illustrates a functional block diagram of aircraft equipmentarchitecture for the exemplary in-flight communications network of FIG.5.

FIG. 11 illustrates a diagram of an exemplary in-flight communicationsnetwork representation of a link budget based on aircraft altitude.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary in-flight communications networkimplementing aircraft-specific resource allocation.

FIG. 13 illustrates exemplary information and control flows for radioresource management in an exemplary in-flight communications system.

The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, in-flight communications network 100 usesair-to-ground communications and satellite communications to providein-flight wide area access to users on aircraft 102. An exemplaryair-to-ground system includes a terrestrial relay point (e.g., anup-tilted antenna coupled to an eNodeB, base transceiver station, orother communications system coupled to a network) that directlycommunicates with wireless handsets or other user equipment, scatteredacross a service area. When using satellite communications, aircraft 102communicates with a non-terrestrial relay (e.g., satellite 104), whichcommunicates signals to terrestrial network 110 via satellite bandsignal receiver 106 and associated equipment. Exemplary satellite bandsignals use a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum allocated tosatellite communications, including signals operating in the Super HighFrequency (SHF) band (e.g., 3 to 30 GHz), C band (e.g., 4 GHz to 8 GHz),G band (e.g., NATO G band of 4 GHz to 6 GHz, IEEE G band of 110 GHz to300 GHz, or obsolete G band 140 MHz to 220 MHz), H Band (e.g., 6 GHz to8 GHz), Ku band (e.g., 12 GHz to 18 GHz), Ka band (e.g., 26.5 GHz to 40GHz), L band (e.g., 40 GHz to 60 GHz or 1 GHz to 2 GHz), X band (e.g., 7GHz to 12 GHz), and F band (e.g., 3 GHz to 4 GHz), or other portions ofthe electromagnetic spectrum suitable for long-distance radiotelecommunications. When using air-to-ground communications, aircraft102 communicates with cell tower 108, which communicates signals toterrestrial network 110. Exemplary air-to-ground signals use sets offrequency ranges within the ultra high frequency band allocated forcellular phone use (e.g., 800 MHz).

Referring to FIG. 2, in at least one embodiment, in addition to theaircraft air-to-ground communications links and the satellitecommunications links 502, the in-flight communications network includesin-cabin local area network (e.g., aircraft WiFi 504) equipment, a radioaccess network 506, which is coupled to core network 526 and a back endsystem 532, e.g., using antenna 508, microwave antenna 514, microwaveterminal 520, base station 522, and terrestrial transport network 524.Core network 526 includes one or more of Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 528(e.g., the core network of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system of the3GPP core network architecture, also known as System ArchitectureEvolution (SAE) core, which is an All Internet Protocol Network (AIPN)),Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network 530, or othersuitable core network. Back-end system 532 provides policy, billing andsupport systems. The in-flight communications network includes one ormore of the following services: advanced Mi-Fi puck, Internet, video,video calling, and voice/text (e.g. short message service (SMS) or voicecalls to native applications or number). The in-flight communicationsnetwork includes a wireless router that serves as a mobile WiFi hotspot,e.g., connects to core network 526 and provides Internet access formultiple devices on the aircraft. In addition, the in-flightcommunications network is compatible to various regional services (e.g.,United States and European Union).

Referring to FIG. 3, exemplary in-flight communications network 300 usesan air-to-ground communications network separate from a satellitecommunications network and includes an evolved packet core networkincluding mobility management entity 312, serving gateway 314, packetdata network gateway 316, and policy and charging rules function (PCRF)318. Mobility management entity 312 performs signaling and controlfunctions to manage access to network connections by users on aircraft302 and aircraft 304, assignment of network resources to aircraft 302and aircraft 304, and mobility management functions, e.g., idle modelocation tracking, paging, roaming, and handovers. Mobility managemententity 312 controls all control plane functions related to subscriberand session management for air-to-ground service to users on aircraft302 and aircraft 304. In addition, mobility management entity 312provides security operations including providing temporary identitiesfor user terminals, interacting with home subscriber server 320 forauthentication, and negotiation of ciphering and integrity protectionalgorithms.

As referred to herein, a session is an active communication of data overa network between two devices and may include a first data stream from afirst device to the second device and a second data stream from thesecond device to the first device. It may be possible to have more thanone session between two devices simultaneously. Mobility managemententity 312 selects suitable serving and Packet Data Network (PDN)gateways, and selects legacy gateways for handover to other networks.Mobility management entity 312 manages a plurality (e.g., thousands) ofeNodeB elements or evolved packet data gateway elements. Serving gateway314 manages user plane mobility. Serving gateway 314 routes and forwardsuser data packets. Serving gateway 314 also behaves as a mobility anchorduring inter-eNodeB handovers and as the anchor for mobility between LTEand other 3GPP technologies. Packet data network gateway 316 providesconnectivity from user equipment on aircraft 302 and aircraft 304 toexternal packet data networks by being the point of exit and entry oftraffic for the user equipment. Policy and charging rules function 318interfaces with packet data network gateway 316 and supports servicedata flow detection, policy enforcement, and flow-based charging. Homesubscriber server 320 is a central database that stores user-related andsubscription-related information. Home subscriber server 320 providesmobility management, call and session establishment support, userauthentication, and access authorization.

Referring to FIG. 4, implementation of WiFi calling and texting on theaircraft facilitates video or voice calls and texting from users inflight to terrestrial users. On the aircraft, an interim layer 706converts a private IP address of the user on the aircraft to a public IPaddressing scheme. For example, interim layer 706 may map multiple userson one aircraft to a single IP address for the aircraft. In the coreimplementation, gateway 710 assigns a dedicated communications channelor circuit to the IP address allows the user on the aircraft tocommunicate using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or to communicateto an endpoint having a terrestrial phone number throughcircuit-switched core 712.

Referring back to FIG. 3, aircraft 302 and aircraft 304 may separatelycommunicate with non-terrestrial relay points (e.g., satellites 303 and305), which communicate with satellite core 311 and an IP multimediasubsystem to provide services to users. Although the non-terrestrialrelay point is described herein as being a satellite relay point (e.g.,stationary or geostationary satellite), other embodiments of thenon-terrestrial relay point include low duration aircraft, long durationaircraft (e.g., high-altitude platform aircraft (HAPS) or similarsystem), aerostat, or other non-terrestrial relay point. Traffic fromthe non-terrestrial relay point is delivered to an appropriateterrestrial termination point or directly to another aircraft, thusallowing a user-to-user communication or aircraft-to-aircraftcommunication. Note that the satellite communications system and theair-to-ground communications system operate independently and aparticular aircraft may utilize one, the other, or both at a particulartime.

Referring to FIG. 5, a hybrid in-flight communications system integratesaircraft communications systems and traffic management of the aircraftair-to-ground communications and satellite communications to providegate-to-gate connectivity to users on an aircraft. Virtual tunnelaggregator 322 establishes individual communications sessions usinggeneric routing encapsulated (GRE) tunnel communications between theuser on aircraft 304 using either the satellite communications systemcore or mobility core 1302. As referred to herein, a user on an aircraftincludes passengers, airline personnel, an in-flight entertainmentsystem, and the avionics system. Virtual tunnel aggregator 322 mayinclude one or more general-purpose processors and correspondinglocations storing software or firmware instructions configured toexecute on the one or more general purpose processors, and/or one ormore application-specific integrated circuits configured to accomplishtasks set forth herein.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, a session between user equipment 814 onaircraft 304 and a device coupled to mobility core 1302 may beestablished using virtual tunnel aggregator 322, and a voice or textcommunications network 804 or an over-the-top (OTT) server 802, i.e., aserver that delivers audio, video, or other media over the Internetwithout a multiple-system operator (i.e., multi-system operation, e.g.,cable operator) being involved in the control or distribution of thecontent. Data may be communicated between voice or text communicationsdevice 804 and user equipment 814 using aircraft equipment 822, whichincludes network module/multi-link router 812 and aircraft access point820, and only one of satellite system 808 and air-to-ground system 810.Aircraft access point 820 may be a small cell, a wireless access point,an in-flight entertainment system, or other user or user equipmentinterface that coupled to the in-flight network. Virtual tunnelaggregator 322 and the network module/multi-link router 812 establish asession based on traffic classification. High-latency intolerantsessions may be allocated air-to-ground bandwidth while high-latencytolerant traffic is allocated to the satellite communications system.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 7, data may be communicated between OTT server802 and user equipment 814 on an aircraft using virtual tunnelaggregator 322 and both satellite communications system 808 and anair-to-ground system 810 via aircraft equipment 822, which includesnetwork module/multi-link router 812 and aircraft access point 820.Virtual tunnel aggregator 322 and network module/multi-link router 812implement a network layer (i.e., layer 3 of the seven-layer Open SystemsInterconnection (OSI) model of computer networking) solution thatpartitions the data traffic into a portion communicated over satellitecommunications system 808 and a portion communicated over theair-to-ground system 810 based on layer 3 information (e.g., link stateand available bandwidth). However, this layer 3 solution TCP may havepoor performance if packets arrive out-of-order and some applicationsmay behave poorly under high jitter.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 8, in another configuration of an in-flightcommunications system a transport layer (i.e., layer 4 of theseven-layer OSI model) solution partitions the data traffic into aportion communicated over satellite communications system 808 and aportion communicated over the air-to-ground system 810 based on layer 3information (e.g., link state and available bandwidth) but also bundlesall traffic of one TCP connection on one link. Referring to FIGS. 5 and9, in another embodiment, a TCP proxy (e.g., TCP proxy 902 or TCP proxy916) partitions the data traffic into a portion communicated oversatellite communications system 808 and a portion communicated over theair-to-ground system 810 to another TCP proxy of virtual tunnelaggregator 322 and a multipath TCP connection that includes multiplepaths.

FIG. 10 illustrates exemplary in-flight connectivity equipment includedin aircraft equipment 822 of FIGS. 5-9 that can provide simultaneous andcoordinated communications services over air-to-ground and satellitecommunications systems. Note that as referred to herein, equipment onthe aircraft includes equipment that is attached externally to anysurface of the aircraft, equipment that is inside the aircraft, and/orequipment that is otherwise part of the aircraft. In-flight connectivityon-board equipment includes cabin equipment 1402, aircraft systemequipment 1410, and external aircraft antennas 1460. Users on theaircraft may communicate in-flight using a communications device (e.g.,smartphone, laptop, tablet, gaming system, seatback display, wearabledevice, machine-to-machine (M2M) module, or other suitable equipmentused by an end-user to communicate) that may be coupled to aircraftequipment 822 (e.g., a communications terminal in a seatback or armrest)by a transmission line or by a wireless interface configured tocommunicate using a wireless networking technology (e.g., Bluetooth,IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network technologies, Long-TermEvolution (LTE), second-Generation (2G), third-Generation (3G),fourth-generation (4G), LTE-Advanced, LTE in unlicensed spectrum(LTE-U), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Datarates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA),Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) wireless communications,or other wireless communications protocols, which use one or more ofCode Division Multiple access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access(TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Wideband CDMA(WCDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), or othersuitable communications techniques). The wireless interface includes oneor more antennas. For example, the aircraft cabin may include antenna1404 coupled to a radio access node compliant with a wide-area networkstandard, antenna 1406 coupled to a WiFi radio access point 1414, orother antenna (e.g., an antenna in seat display terminal 1408 coupled toreceive signals over a short range). Note that individual antennas mayprovide wireless service within the aircraft using distributed antennasystem including a network of spatially separated antenna nodes coupledto an access point via a transport medium.

In at least one embodiment, aircraft system equipment 1410 includessmall cell 1412, which is a low-powered radio access node that operatesin a predetermined spectrum (licensed or unlicensed spectrum) on theaircraft. Small cell 1412 may be compliant with LTE, 2G, 3G, 4G,LTE-Advanced, LTE-U, GSM, EDGE, HSPA, UMTS, and WiMax wirelesscommunications, or other wireless protocol typically used for wide-areanetworking that uses one or more of CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, WCDMA, OFDMA, orother suitable communications techniques. Small cell 1412 facilitatesuse of personal equipment of passengers being used, unchanged, on theaircraft, and reduces the need for additional handsets to be provided onthe aircraft by an aircraft operator. Additional small cells (not shown)and corresponding antennas may be included to facilitate use of personalequipment compatible with various different wide-area networkingstandards and/or small cell 1412 may be compliant with multiplestandards. Aircraft system equipment 1410 may also include access point1414 that is compliant with a local area network protocol (e.g., WiFi)and that serves as an aircraft hotspot to user personal equipmentconfigured compliant with such communications standards. Access point1414 facilitates use of user personal equipment over regularcommunications spectrum on the aircraft and reduces the need foradditional handsets to be provided by the aircraft operator. Additionalaccess points and corresponding antennas may be included to facilitateuse of personal equipment compatible with various different local-areanetworking standards.

In at least one embodiment, aircraft system equipment 1410 includes seatdisplay terminals in the seat-backs or other suitable portion of theaircraft cabin. Each seat display terminal 1408 is coupled to in-flightentertainment system 1428, which may provide various types ofprogramming to users including one or more of interactivedirect-broadcast satellite television, Internet, and audio programming,without requiring use of a user's own personal user equipment. Inaddition, user equipment may directly connect to the in-flightentertainment system using a port in a seat display terminal or otherportion of the aircraft cabin. Aircraft system equipment 1410 may alsoinclude interface 1416, which includes one or more interface foravionics and crew. Interface 1416 may communicate with one or more ofthe electronic systems used on the aircraft, including communications,navigation, global positioning systems, and/or other electronic systemsof the aircraft to an aircraft operator, air traffic control, or otherrecipient (e.g., nearest local or government authorities). Avionics andcrew interface 1416 may also provide crew with configuration andoverride access to other services being provided by aircraft systemequipment 1410. For example, the crew may manually disable and/orconfigure small cell 1412, access point 1414, in-flight entertainmentsystem 1428, modems (e.g., digital units 1432, 1434, 1436, and 1437)and/or components of power amplifier shelf 1438 for the entire aircraftand/or for individual user access. Avionics and crew interface 1416 mayalso provide a communications interface for crew to the aircraftoperator, air traffic control, or other recipients (e.g., nearest localor government authorities).

Still referring to FIG. 10, aircraft system equipment 1410 includesin-flight connectivity controller 1418. The control functions may beperformed by a stand-alone controller or distributed across multiplecomputers, microprocessors, or other suitable devices. In-flightconnectivity controller 1418 includes router 1420, server 1422, storage1424 and may include an additional management functions control unit1426. Each of the elements of in-flight connectivity controller 1418 mayinclude one or more general-purpose processors and correspondinglocations in storage facility 1424 storing software or firmwareinstructions configured to execute on the one or more general purposeprocessors, and/or one or more application-specific integrated circuitsconfigured to accomplish tasks set forth herein. In addition, storagefacility 1424 may include data associated with operation of in-flightconnectivity controller 1418, e.g., routing information and otherin-flight connectivity system configuration information. Router 1420forwards data packets between the aircraft communications systems (e.g.,avionics and crew interface 1416, small cell 1412, access point 1414,and in-flight entertainment system 1428) and transceivers forcommunications external to the aircraft. Note that access points 1412,1414, and other wireless access points may communicate with userequipment using different power levels, different frequencies, differentchannels, different power spectral density masks, and/or differentcommunications protocols. Management controller 1426 establishes routingencapsulation tunnels (e.g., generic routing encapsulation tunnels)between the users of the in-flight connectivity services and servicesprovided by terrestrial communications systems.

In general, router 1420 receives and assembles or disassembles packetsbefore forwarding them on to an internal or external network,respectively. In addition, management controller 1426 may performregistration of user equipment on the aircraft to the in-flightcommunications network, encryption, e.g., secure shell encryption,transport layer security, or secure sockets layer encryption, andDoppler shift compensation based on signal frequency and velocity of theaircraft received from the avionics. In other embodiments, the Dopplershift compensation is performed by digital units 1432, 1434, 1436, and1437 based on information received from the avionic directly orindirectly via in-flight connectivity controller 1418. In addition,in-flight connectivity controller 1418 allocates aircraft-area bandwidth(e.g., bandwidth for communications using the in-flight communicationsnetwork in regions internal or proximate to the aircraft including theaircraft cabin, the aircraft cockpit, cargo area, and other regionsinternal or proximate to the aircraft within range of signalstransmitted using cabin equipment 1402) to individual sessions on theairplane (i.e., between a user and management controller 1426) accordingto the prioritization level of equipment on the aircraft. Theprioritization level may be based on a type of the equipment on theaircraft. The prioritization levels may include a prioritization levelof aircraft passenger user equipment, a prioritization level of avionicsequipment, a prioritization level of an in-flight entertainment system,and a prioritization level of aircraft personnel communicationsequipment.

In at least one embodiment, aircraft system equipment 1410 includesair-to-ground digital unit 1432, satellite digital unit 1434, andadditional satellite digital unit 1436, which perform modulation anddemodulation of signals communicated between in-flight connectivitycontroller 1418 and relay points external to the aircraft (e.g., aterrestrial relay point or a non-terrestrial relay point). Air-to-grounddigital unit 1432 may be compliant with one or more wide-area networkstandards (e.g., LTE, 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE-Advanced, LTE-U, GSM, EDGE, HSPA,UMTS, and WiMax wireless communications, or other wireless protocoltypically used for wide-area networking that uses one or more of CDMA,TDMA, FDMA, WCDMA, OFDMA, or other suitable communications techniques).Satellite digital unit 1434 may be compliant with one or more of SuperHigh Frequency (SHF) band (e.g., 3 to 30 GHz), C band (e.g., 4 GHz to 8GHz), G band (e.g., NATO G band of 4 GHz to 6 GHz, IEEE G band of 110GHz to 300 GHz, or obsolete G band 140 MHz to 220 MHz), H Band (e.g., 6GHz to 8 GHz), Ku band (e.g., 12 GHz to 18 GHz), Ka band (e.g., 26.5 GHzto 40 GHz), L band (e.g., 40 GHz to 60 GHz or 1 GHz to 2 GHz), X band(e.g., 7 GHz to 12 GHz), and F band (e.g., 3 GHz to 4 GHz), frequencyband mobility network communications. Additional digital unit 1436includes transmitter and receiver digital circuitry for other frequencybands (e.g., 14 GHz frequency band or other frequency bands that areseparately regulated). Air-to-ground digital unit 1432, satellitedigital unit 1434, and additional digital unit 1436 include circuitsthat implement digital signal transmitter operations and digital signalreceiver operations.

Power amplifier shelf 1438 includes radio units that correspond to thestandards implemented by the various digital units. Each of radio units1440, 1442, 1444, . . . , 1452 includes circuits (e.g., transceivers)that perform analog transmitter and analog receiver operations forsignals communicated to and from one or more corresponding antennas1462, 1464, 1466, . . . , 1474. Exemplary operations includedigital-to-analog conversion, analog modulation, mixing with a carriersignal, power amplification, sampling, analog demodulation, filtering,applying a power-spectral density mask, and/or other suitable radiofrequency communication operations. Note that the receivers may processmultiple signals from Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) embodimentsor multiple signals received over multiple antennas using diversitycombining or other diversity techniques. An individual antenna may beshared by multiple radio bands or a multi-band antenna, antenna switch,combiner or other suitable technique may be used. Radio units 1440,1442, 1444, and 1446 perform those transmit and receiver operations forthe frequency bands that correspond to the different air-to-groundstandards, e.g., S frequency band, C and D blocks of the WCS frequencyband, A, B, C, and D blocks of the WCS frequency band, and mobilityfrequency bands, respectively using corresponding antennas on theaircraft (antennas 1462, 1464, 1466, and 1468, respectively). Note thatin one embodiment of air-to-ground communications system, the C and Dfrequency bands are used as primary frequency bands and additional bands(e.g., A and B frequency bands) are used for communications with aRemote Radio Head (RRH) of the distributed base station. Similarly,radio unit 1448 performs transmit and receive operations forcommunications between antenna 1470 and satellite digital unit 1434 andthe 14 GHz radio unit 1450 performs transmit and receive operations forcommunications between antenna 1472 and air-to-ground digital unit 1436.

In at least one embodiment, aircraft system equipment 1410 includesshort range wireless digital unit 1437 and short-range wireless radiounit 1452 coupled to antenna 1474. Those elements facilitatecommunications and updates of the in-flight entertainment system usingshort-range wireless communications (e.g., WiFi), without requiringseparate equipment. In addition, those elements may be used to providecommunications services to users while an aircraft is on the ground(e.g., parked at a gate) using a terrestrial WiFi system coupled to theInternet. Additional digital units, radio units, and antennas may beincluded to provide other coverage, e.g., to provide regular terrestrialcommunications to a terrestrial wireless communications system. Inembodiments of an in-flight connectivity system, additional eNodeBs arelocated close to or on airport property to facilitate communicationsfrom the aircraft while parked at an airport gate. In at least oneembodiment of the in-flight connectivity system, multiple frequencybands share the same antenna or a multi-band antenna, antenna switch,combiner or other suitable technique may be used. In addition, note thatalthough only one antenna is illustrated per frequency band, multipleantennas may be used for each frequency band, each antenna beingstrategically located on the fuselage to provide more continuouscommunications coverage based on the aircraft orientation with respectto a terrestrial antenna. For example, the antennas may have differentangles with respect to a terrestrial antenna to increase coverage duringaircraft banking. Cabin equipment 1402, aircraft system equipment 1410,and external aircraft antennas 1460 facilitate multiple streams of databeing communicated to/from users of an aircraft (e.g., seat displayterminal 1408, user equipment using small cell 1412, user equipmentusing access point 1414, and aircraft avionics and crew interface 1416)and virtual tunnel aggregator 322 using air-to-ground and satellitecommunications systems. In at least one embodiment, aircraft antennasare implemented using multi-band antennas.

Referring to FIG. 12, management controller 1426 establishes routingencapsulation tunnels (e.g., generic routing encapsulation tunnels)between the users of the in-flight connectivity services and virtualtunnel aggregator 322 of FIG. 5. In response to a registration operationof aircraft 302 using an aircraft identity stored in storage 1424,virtual tunnel aggregator 322 allocates bandwidth to upstream and/ordownstream communications with aircraft 304. That bandwidth allocationmay be partitioned between the air-to-ground system, the satellitecommunications system, and/or other communications system based on alink budget, aircraft identity type, traffic characteristics, asubscription profile for the aircraft, or other suitable aircraft statusand location.

Referring to FIG. 11, a link budget for aircraft 304 accounts for all ofthe gains (e.g., due to antenna diversity and frequency hopping schemes)and losses from the transmitter and the receiver through the atmosphere.The link budget accounts for attenuation of transmitted signals due topropagation, as well as antenna gains, feedline, and miscellaneouslosses. Since losses due to the atmosphere vary with altitude, the linkbudget may be estimated based on a single sector view of a particularradius of the position of the aircraft with respect to the cell tower(e.g., center point to 75 kilometers from the cell tower), using amaximum altitude, although the losses may be reduced for aircraft flyingat lower altitudes. In at least one embodiment, a communications networkbases the aircraft link budget on multiple predetermined sectors (e.g.,maximum altitude to approximately 10,000 feet and approximately 10,000feet to approximately ground). In addition, the link budget accounts forgain due to the number of antennas used, e.g., a multiplication factorfor 2×2 multiple-input, multiple output (MIMO).

In at least one embodiment of the in-flight connectivity network, acommunications system (e.g., the air-to-ground communications system orthe satellite communications system) allocates bandwidth to a particularaircraft according to aircraft type. For example, each aircraft includesa subscriber identity module that indicates the aircraft type, e.g., acommercial jet having capacity for n passengers, a private jet havingcapacity for m passengers, a military aircraft, a drone aircraft, orother type of aircraft. Mobility management entity 312 of FIG. 5 mayallocate bandwidth to a particular aircraft by prioritizing an aircraftwith a greater number of actual passengers (e.g., aircraft 304 of FIG.12) over a smaller aircraft transporting fewer passengers (e.g.,aircraft 302 of FIG. 12). Other prioritization schemes may be used,e.g., prioritization based on subscription services of one or moreaircraft operators associated with individual aircraft, or othersuitable schemes.

Once an aircraft is allocated bandwidth of a particular communicationssystem, in-flight connectivity controller 1418 of FIG. 10 allocates thatbandwidth to user equipment associated with individual users on theaircraft. As referred to herein, a user is one of a passenger, a crewmember, the aircraft avionics system, or the in-flight entertainmentsystem. Each user and/or user type may be granted different priority forits associated equipment. For example, aircraft avionics may be grantedhighest priority and equipment associated with passengers may be grantedlowest priority. In at least one embodiment, in-flight connectivitycontroller 1418 prioritizes use of any air-to-ground bandwidth allocatedto the aircraft over satellite system bandwidth due to lower latencycharacteristic and/or lower cost of the air-to-ground communications ascompared to the latency and cost of satellite communications. That is,in-flight connectivity controller 1418 may allocate all of theair-to-ground communications bandwidth before allocating any satellitecommunications bandwidth or partitions bandwidth amongst different users(e.g., allocates satellite communications bandwidth to the in-flightentertainment system and then to other users).

Referring to FIG. 13, air-to-ground communications system and asatellite communications system grant bandwidth to in-flightconnectivity controller 1418 (202) and in-flight connectivity controller1418 prioritizes the air-to-ground bandwidth. For example, in-flightconnectivity controller 1418 determines whether sufficient air-to-groundsystem bandwidth is available for sensor data transmission from theaircraft (204), i.e., whether the total used air-to-ground bandwidth isless than or equal to a threshold, e.g., the maximum air-to-groundbandwidth allocated to the aircraft. If the air-to-ground bandwidth isinsufficient, in-flight connectivity controller 1418 determines whetherit is economical to transmit the sensor data from the aircraft usingsatellite communications system bandwidth allocated to the aircraft(208). If use of satellite bandwidth is economical, in-flightconnectivity controller 1418 throttles user Internet services and/orother services otherwise allocated to satellite communications system(e.g., via the in-flight entertainment system) (218) to providebandwidth for the sensor data transmission. In-flight connectivitycontroller 1418 determines whether any remaining air-to-ground bandwidthis sufficient for avionics data communications (206). If theair-to-ground bandwidth is insufficient, in-flight connectivitycontroller 1418 determines whether it is economical to send theflight-deck data transmission using satellite communications systembandwidth (208). If use of satellite bandwidth is economical, in-flightconnectivity controller 1418 throttles user Internet services and/orother services allocated satellite communications system bandwidth (218)to provide bandwidth for avionics data transmission.

In addition, in-flight connectivity controller 1418 determines whetherany air-to-ground bandwidth allocation is sufficient for flight crewservices data transmission (210). If the air-to-ground bandwidth isinsufficient, in-flight connectivity controller 1418 determines whetherit is economical to send the flight crew services data transmissionusing any remaining satellite communications system bandwidth (208). Ifuse of satellite bandwidth is economical, in-flight connectivitycontroller 1418 throttles user Internet services and/or other userservices allocated satellite communications system bandwidth (218) toprovide bandwidth for flight crew services data transmission. In-flightconnectivity controller 1418 then determines whether the air-to-groundsystem bandwidth is sufficient for supporting other Internet service,e.g., to other user equipment on the aircraft (212). If not, thenin-flight connectivity controller 1418 throttles the user Internetservices (214). If the bandwidth is sufficient, then, all of theInternet services are communicated using an air-to-ground modem (216).Otherwise, in-flight connectivity controller 1418 throttles the otheruser Internet services and allocates any remaining service requests tothe satellite system, if possible (214). Note that while the singleair-to-ground transmission pipe is managed based on a particularprioritization scheme, and relies on the satellite transmission in casesof insufficient bandwidth, other prioritization schemes may be used. Inat least one embodiment of in-flight connectivity controller 1418, anoverride selection may be made that gives absolute priority to aircraftavionics under certain circumstances (e.g., emergency communications).In at least one embodiment, in-flight connectivity controller 1418prioritizes different passenger services. For example, the in-flightentertainment system that is delivered to seat display terminals may begranted higher priority than other services being provided to userequipment in the aircraft cabin.

Referring back to FIG. 5, in at least one embodiment, the air-to-groundcommunications system is used for communications sessions that haverelatively high-latency intolerance (e.g., video,voice-over-Internet-protocol, chatting, and gaming). However, undercertain circumstances, the air-to-ground communications system may havepoor performance (e.g., when the aircraft is located over a large bodyof water or performs a banking turn or engages in other orientation thatdegrades the air-to-ground signal quality), and in-flight communicationssystem (e.g., in-flight connectivity controller 1418 of FIG. 10)coordinates a hand-off of a communications session from theair-to-ground communications system to the satellite communicationssystem. Any suitable handover technique may be used. The air-to-groundsystem views one or more satellite systems as just other eNodeBs anduses simultaneous tunnels for the same user. However, when theair-to-ground communications system signal quality improves, anotherhandoff occurs to restore the communications session to theair-to-ground communications system. Note that under othercircumstances, satellite communications may be selected and handoff tothe air-to-ground communications system may occur in response todegradation of the satellite communications system or improvement to theair-to-ground signal quality. Accordingly, when the satellitecommunications system performance improves, another handoff occurs torestore the communications session from the air-to-ground communicationssystem to the satellite communications system. In situations wherebandwidth of a selected communications system is insufficient to satisfya minimum required capacity of a particular communications session,in-flight connectivity controller 1418 queues the communicationssession. In addition, in-flight connectivity controller 1418 adjustsbandwidth allocated to any particular communications session in responseto an event having a prioritization level higher than the prioritizationlevel of the communications session (e.g., avionics or crewcommunications needing additional bandwidth for emergencycommunications).

Structures described herein may be implemented using software executingon a processor (which includes firmware) or by a combination of softwareand hardware. Software, as described herein, may be encoded in at leastone tangible computer readable medium. As referred to herein, a tangiblecomputer-readable medium includes at least a disk, tape, or othermagnetic, optical, or electronic storage medium.

The description set forth herein is illustrative, and is not intended tolimit the scope of the following claims. Variations and modifications ofthe embodiments disclosed herein may be made based on the descriptionset forth herein, without departing from the scope and spirit of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for operating a communications system onan aircraft comprising: allocating to a communications session betweenequipment on the aircraft and other equipment, a first bandwidthallocation of a selected communications system selected from the groupconsisting of a non-terrestrial communications system and anair-to-ground communications system, the allocating being based on alatency tolerance of the communications session and a prioritizationlevel of the communications session; and communicating signals of thecommunications session using the first bandwidth allocation of theselected communications system.
 2. The method, as recited in claim 1,wherein the air-to-ground communications system is selected until theair-to-ground communications system bandwidth is approximately athreshold air-to-ground bandwidth allocation for the aircraft.
 3. Themethod, as recited in claim 1, further comprising: allocating anaircraft-area bandwidth to the communications session based on at leastone of capability of the equipment on the aircraft and subscriptioninformation associated with the equipment on the aircraft; andcommunicating the signals of the communications session further usingthe aircraft-area bandwidth.
 4. The method, as recited in claim 1,wherein the prioritization level is selected from a plurality ofprioritization levels based on a type of the equipment on the aircraft,the plurality of prioritization levels including a prioritization levelof aircraft passenger user equipment, a prioritization level of avionicsequipment, a prioritization level of an in-flight entertainment system,and a prioritization level of aircraft personnel communicationsequipment.
 5. The method, as recited in claim 1, wherein the selectedcommunications system is the non-terrestrial communications system inresponse to the communications session being tolerant of a high latencyand the selected communications system is the air-to-groundcommunications system in response to the communications session beingintolerant of the high latency.
 6. The method, as recited in claim 1,wherein the communications session is a transport layer session of anopen systems interconnection model communications system.
 7. The method,as recited in claim 6, wherein the communications session is atransmission control protocol session.
 8. The method, as recited inclaim 1, further comprising: allocating aircraft-area bandwidth to thecommunications session according to the prioritization level of theequipment on the aircraft, the prioritization level being selected froma plurality of prioritization levels based on a type of the equipment onthe aircraft, the plurality of prioritization levels including aprioritization level of aircraft passenger user equipment, aprioritization level of avionics equipment, a prioritization level of anin-flight entertainment system, and a prioritization level of aircraftpersonnel communications equipment; and communicating signals of thecommunications session using the aircraft-area bandwidth allocation. 9.The method, as recited in claim 1, wherein the selected communicationssystem is the non-terrestrial communications system and the methodfurther comprises: handing off the communications session from thesatellite communications system to the air-to-ground communicationssystem; and communicating the signals of the communications sessionusing a second bandwidth allocation of the air-to-ground communicationssystem, the second bandwidth being allocated based on the latencytolerance of the communications session and the prioritization level ofthe communications session.
 10. The method, as recited in claim 9,further comprising: handing off the communications session from theair-to-ground communications system to the satellite communicationssystem; and communicating the signals of the communications sessionusing a third bandwidth allocation of the non-terrestrial communicationssystem, the third bandwidth being allocated based on the latencytolerance of the communications session and the prioritization level ofthe communications session.
 11. The method, as recited in claim 10,further comprising: handing off the communications session from thenon-terrestrial communications system to a terrestrial communicationssystem; and communicating the signals of the communications sessionusing a fourth bandwidth allocation of the terrestrial communicationssystem, the fourth bandwidth being allocated based on the prioritizationlevel of the communications session.
 12. The method, as recited in claim9, wherein the handoff is in response to a change in aircraftorientation.
 13. The method, as recited in claim 1, wherein aprioritization level of avionics equipment is greater than aprioritization level of aircraft personnel communications equipment, andwherein the prioritization level of the aircraft personnelcommunications equipment is greater than a prioritization level of anaircraft passenger user equipment.
 14. The method, as recited in claim1, further comprising: associating with the aircraft subscriber-identitymodule information associated with equipment on the aircraft; andregistering the aircraft with the non-terrestrial communications systemand the air-to-ground communications system.
 15. The method, as recitedin claim 14, further comprising: allocating non-terrestrialcommunications system bandwidth to the aircraft according to at leastone of an actual number of passengers on the aircraft and an aircrafttype; and allocating air-to-ground communications system bandwidth tothe aircraft according to at least one of a number of passengers and anaircraft type, wherein the first bandwidth is allocated based on thenon-terrestrial communications system bandwidth allocated to theaircraft and the air-to-ground communications system bandwidth allocatedto the aircraft.
 16. The method, as recited in claim 15, wherein theaircraft type is one of commercial and private.
 17. The method, asrecited in claim 14, further comprising: allocating non-terrestrialcommunications system bandwidth to the aircraft according to aircraftaltitude; and allocating air-to-ground communications system bandwidthto the aircraft according to aircraft altitude, wherein the firstbandwidth is allocated based on the non-terrestrial communicationssystem bandwidth allocated to the aircraft and the air-to-groundcommunications system bandwidth allocated to the aircraft.
 18. Themethod, as recited in claim 1, wherein the first bandwidth is allocatedfurther according to cost tolerance and minimum required capacity of thecommunications session.
 19. The method, as recited in claim 18, furthercomprising: queuing signals of the communications session in response toavailable bandwidth of the selected system being insufficient to satisfya minimum required capacity of the communications session.
 20. Themethod, as recited in claim 1, further comprising: adjusting the firstbandwidth allocation in response to an event having a prioritizationlevel higher than the prioritization level of the communicationssession.
 21. An apparatus for communications on an aircraft comprising:a first modem configured to process signals communicated with anon-terrestrial relay point; a second modem configured to processsignals communicated with a terrestrial relay point; and a controllerconfigured to allocate to a communications session between equipment onthe aircraft and other equipment, a first bandwidth allocation of aselected communications system selected from the group consisting of asatellite communications system and an air-to-ground communicationssystem, the allocating being based on a latency tolerance of thecommunications session and a prioritization level of the communicationssession, the controller communicating signals of the communicationssession with the first modem and the second modem according to the firstbandwidth allocation.
 22. The apparatus, as recited in claim 21, furthercomprising: a wireless local area access node configured to communicatewith user equipment on the aircraft; and a small cell access nodeconfigured to communicate with user equipment on the aircraft, whereinthe controller is further configured to allocate an aircraft-areabandwidth to the communications session based on at least one ofcapability of the equipment on the aircraft and subscription informationassociated with the equipment on the aircraft and the controller beingconfigured to communicate the signals of the communications sessionfurther using the aircraft-area bandwidth.
 23. The apparatus, as recitedin claim 21, wherein the prioritization level is selected from aplurality of prioritization levels based on a type of the equipment onthe aircraft, the plurality of prioritization levels including aprioritization level of aircraft passenger user equipment, aprioritization level of avionics equipment, a prioritization level of anin-flight entertainment system, and a prioritization level of aircraftpersonnel communications equipment.
 24. An apparatus comprising: meansfor controlling communications with equipment on an aircraft; and meansfor communicating first data streams between the means for controllingand first equipment on the aircraft using a first wireless protocol andfirst power spectral density mask; and means for communicating seconddata streams between the means for controlling and second equipment onthe aircraft using a second wireless protocol and second power spectraldensity, wherein the means for controlling communicates signals of thecommunications session using a first bandwidth allocation of theselected communications system allocated to the communications sessionbetween equipment on the aircraft and other equipment, a first bandwidthallocation of a selected communications system selected from the groupconsisting of a satellite communications system and an air-to-groundcommunications system, the allocating being based on a latency toleranceof the communications session and a prioritization level of thecommunications session.